American Gothic (Grant Wood, 1930)

Grant Wood's 1930 oil painting depicting a pitchfork-holding farmer and a woman in front of a Carpenter Gothic house was purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago for $300 in 1930 and is now considered priceless. Inspired by a small white house Wood spotted in Eldon, Iowa, the painting has become one of the most recognized and parodied works in American art — appearing in over 70,000 parodies and adaptations since its creation. The two subjects (Wood's sister and dentist) achieved accidental immortality as symbols of American rural resilience.